Top QA tools: which ones are the most useful?

“What tools should I have?”

This is the question that any consultant will naturally ask when embarking on the long and valuable journey of Quality Assurance (QA). However, even the most experienced tester must always question and update the list of tools that the market offers, not only to make their work easier but also to increase productivity.

Let’s look into the main names to remember in the vast array of QA tools, providing a brief and far-from-impartial assessment based on my personal experience (take this with a grain of salt).

Documentation tools

At the beginning of a project, it’s not unusual for a QA consultant to struggle with reading documentation and, subsequently, with managing it. There are several solutions, but it's important to filter out those that offer a centralised and accessible repository for everyone, and not simply uneditable and/or non-shared manuals at a common address.

Currently, the most widely used ones are SimplerQMS, Nuclino, and Confluence (the latter two run on Corporate Wiki).

Project management tools

In the daily management of a project, it is advisable for an organisation to equip itself with the best possible management tool. Only then will it be possible to have development, testing, and support workflows properly calibrated and controlled.

Currently, the “crème de la crème” is Jira. Not only does it allow for the accumulation of other types of functions, but it also has the advantage of being able to be automatically updated with the development pipeline (in releases, sprints, etc.).

However, there are alternatives, such as ClickUp or HP App Lifecycle Management.

Testing management tools

It is common for the software used for project management to be the same as the one used for testing management (see the tools mentioned above). However, it is also possible that the project where the consultant is allocated opts for a more specific solution, exclusively for the management of test cases, test metrics, etc.

The best example of this specialisation is HP Quality Center, which, despite being a bit dated and having a less appealing design, remains a good alternative for more focused management.

Microsoft Test Manager, TestLink, and TestRail also serve this purpose with ease.

API and DB testing tools

In daily testing, it is common for a tester to go beyond the front-end. In fact, in many projects, they may not even test the front-end and perform all their work on the back-end.

Regardless of the situation, in addition to ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or project-specific applications, it is important to know what tools to use to access APIs and databases (DB).

For API testing, it is easy to come across SoapUI, a functional API testing tool that, despite its name, allows for REST, SOAP, or even Web Services design testing.

On the other hand, Postman is more suitable for REST, with the bonus of being easily used in test automation (which is obviously possible with other similar tools).

For databases, almost everyone will know MySQL, but because it is somewhat dated, it may be useful to resort to other solutions such as MongoDB or DBeaver.

Here is a reading suggestion for more recent alternatives for DB access.

Automated testing tools

The natural evolution of QA culminates in the automation of a part of tests to be executed daily. This topic is explored in greater detail in this and this articles, but it is worth noting here the main names associated with this type of solution.

Firstly, depending on the operating system, it may be necessary to use, as a development environment, Microsoft Visual Studio, Xcode (for Mac users), or Android Studio. Alternatively, there is always NetBeans IDE, capable of functioning on several operating systems.

Within this development environment, the range of frameworks is so vast that it can easily confuse us due to the excess of options. Therefore, it is advisable to pay attention to the news and specificities of each framework.

It is worth noting that Microsoft Visual Studio is the most well-documented and versatile, because it has the largest existing extension library.

For a more detailed analysis, here is another reading suggestion on different popular options, with the pros and cons of each one.

Conclusion

It is important to note that a tester may not have to be involved in all the previously mentioned areas, but even if that doesn’t happen for the moment, the information may be useful in another project.

And because knowledge takes up no space, it is always good to be aware of what other team members may be using or the usefulness that some tools may bring in vectors not yet considered.

For now, let's stick with these suggestions.

Happy testing!